Internet digest: DesiDime, HomeLane, TinyOwl & ShopClues

Online shopping platform DesiDime has joined hands with international online commerce site Pepper to expand its ventures in South-East Asia starting with Indonesia. Pepper claims to have clients active in 10 countries across 4 continents including HotUKDeals in UK, mydealz in Germany, Dealabs in France and PromoDescuentos in Mexico,with around 50 crore total page views and 10 lakh user comments and deals submitted every month.

Founded in 2014 by Mehul and Jimish Jobanputra, DesiDime claims to have around 60,000 visitors and 1500-2000 transactions every day. DesiDime provides coupons and deals from popular e-tailers such as Flipkart, Paytm, Amazon and eBay apart from offering price comparison and a forum for discussion.

***HomeLane acquires Doowup

Bangalore-based online marketplace for fixed furniture HomeLane has acquired Doowup, a virtual home decor platform for an undisclosed amount. As part of the acquisition, Doowup’s founding team will join HomeLane. With this deal, HomeLane plans to strengthen its user base and technological aspects. Doowup’s founder Vivek Seetharaman will now be HomeLane’s new Chief Innovation Officer.

In February, HomeLane raised $4.5 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, with participation in individual capacity from Manipal Education and Medical Group’s Ranjan Pai and Manipal Global Education’s Mohandas Pai. HomeLane was founded in August 2014 by Srikanth Iyer and Rama Harinath. It sells entertainment units, wardrobes, kitchen units, study tables, and shoe racks among other furniture items. Additionally, the company also offers customization services, help in planning interiors, etc. The company claims it delivers products within 4 weeks and provides a 3-year manufacturer warranty.

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ShopClues launches “Unboxed” laptop category

Delhi-based e-commerce portal ShopClues has launched a new category of laptop called “Unboxed” aimed at providing users laptops from top brands such as Dell, HP, etc. at low prices. These are products which were returned to sellers upon opening the seal for various reasons. ShopClues claims that these products are as good as new and had previously launched its “Unboxed” category of mobiles.

In August, ShopClues had launched a new hyperlocal feature called Neighbourhood Market on its mobile app which would allow local merchants to connect with customers. The feature allows localized sellers to showcase their products to buyers near them across mobile and web platforms. Earlier in January, the company raised $100 million investment led by Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Helion Venture Partners and Nexus Venture Partners.

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TinyOwl launches ‘TinyOwl Homemade’ in Bengaluru

Food ordering app TinyOwl, which is operational in Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, Gurgaon and Chennai has extended its services to Bengaluru under the name of ‘TinyOwl Homemade’. Prior to the launch, TinyOwl did a pilot project in the city in August with 3 cuisines and 1 dessert option.

Founded in 2014 by Harshvardhan Mandad and four others, TinyOwl’s services allow customers to order food for delivery or takeout via its iOS and Android apps. It offers two products; ordering of food from nearby restaurants and ‘TinyOwl HomeMade’ for ordering food from local chefs. In February, TinyOwl raised Rs 100 crore in a series B round of funding from Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. The platform had also raised $3 million in a series A round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital earlier in last year.